Misfortune
by Troublesome Dragon
Summary: Bruno in memory of the recently departed Yusei has built Fortune in his image. Considering the welfare of the city depends on Fortune not throwing a temper tantrum, Bruno is not liking his rapidly developing feelings for Aki.
1. Fortune

Fortune

After a long and heart wrenching battle, Bruno generally wanted to lie low, maybe settle into some normal routine. That was the plan anyway, sucking your best friend on earth into a giant black hole does not go unnoticed or in the case of his former teammates, unpunished. The children begged him to bring him back. As if anything survived in the pitch black nothingness, not that he told them that, instead, Antimony assured them that they were safe and so was the world. Yes because he was still Antimony then, and as disappointed as he was that his friend had failed to find an alternate path, he had done his job. Crow and Sherry didn't want to believe that Yusei had fallen. The words' traitor and liar were spread around like butter. He ignored them and proceeded to return to Zone with the few precious minutes he had left. Aki, that wicked witch because that was what she was at that moment, threw him. Caring little about his precious future, she screamed, cried, and punched until each blow felt like a giant droplet drowning him in karmic retribution. Yusei was gone. It was his fault. She'd see to it that he joined him. And Jack, the one who most vocally distrusted him from the beginning, only walked away, bitter and disappointed.

If he could choose, Antimony would have chosen some other way. He'd counted on Yusei to find some other way. His death left him with little options and no allies, so, Bruno did the one thing he could think of. He challenged Zone. He'd laughed as if he'd told a particularly clever joke. He repeated the challenge. Zone hushed, and each stared at the other. All his creations, the remnants of his friends, were destroyed, except this one; he hesitated. Clarifying the risks as he was prone to do, Zone told him that he would not come out of the fight alive. Bruno accepted anyway. Being made of sophisticated metallic sinews and convincing fleshy material, he had calculated his chance of victory, point zero one percent, how he'd defied that, he didn't know.

Yet, he'd managed to do that and keep the Arc Cradle from demolishing the city. If Crow still indulged in wise cracks with him, he would have claimed that it was due to his robotic origins. But, no one talked to him much nowadays or looked him in the eye. Bruno could live with that. For the last six months, he had worked to recreate life, much like Zone had done before him. And when he finally completed momentum's heart, his dear comrades couldn't find enough to say.

"Bruno, how could you?" Jack shouted at him, and Bruno instinctively jerked away. He could break every bone in his body, but Jack hit hard was all that registered in that instant.

"I thought you two would appreciate it," He admitted because deep down he had wanted his friend back in some way and had assumed they would too. Crow scowled, glancing at the carbon copy who was simply walking around Momentum's core.

"That's not Yusei, and we don't appreciate you trying to pretend that you didn't do what you did," Crow said as they both cornered him.

"His name is Fortune," Bruno corrected him. He would not be accused of replacing their friend.

"You're tarnishing Yusei's memory with that empty shell," Jack exclaimed as he lifted Bruno off the ground.

"What is he, some novelty item you decided to make?" Crow demanded as Bruno struggled to get out of Jack's grip.

"No, he is connected to Momentum, and designed to keep it running smoothly," Bruno gasped, glad that Jack decided to drop him to the floor.

" Wait a second. He's not like you then? He can't feel?" Crow asked the recovering robot. Bruno shook his head.

"Not exactly, I didn't give him Yusei's memories, but he does have his personality to an extent. Except, he's ordered to forever guard Momentum and therefore, has no other purpose. His thoughts don't go beyond that," Bruno explained to the duo. They narrowed their eyes. How dare he mock them with a machine that couldn't even comprehend why they were upset at his existence.

"Is there something wrong Bruno? I sense a lot of ill intent in this area," Fortune asked, jumping across the railway easily. The replica showed no signs of recognizing them and waited patiently for Bruno's orders.

"No, just talking to a few friends," Bruno assured him. Fortune nodded, bumping into Jack upon his exit. The contact unsteadied him so he almost fell into Momentum's core. Fortune caught him and dusted him off like a shopkeeper would an antique.

"Be careful. There's a reason I oversee most of this. People cause accidents," The machine informed him politely. Jack curled his fingers into a fist. The damn robot had bumped into him. So, if the silly model couldn't comprehend what he was told beyond caring for the facility, he'd take advantage of that for all it was worth.

"You're not Yusei," Jack spat at the object of controversy. Fortune hung his head low as he retreated to his usual post.

"I know," Fortune replied leaving the entire group's mouths agape. Most of the time, he had little to do with how Momentum ran. The thing ran itself except for an occasional mishap that he would fix. Never mind that Bruno would console him by saying the entire human race depended on his existence, in truth, he ran the information desk.

So, he tended to sit in his wheelie chair until someone approached him whether it was a lost visitor or a tour group. As of late, he had been getting a special visitor which he valued more than all the smiling children and old grandpas' he saw on a regular basis combined. The lady, or Aki as she had told him on her last visit, slipped a rose on his desk. He took the offering and placed it in the special vase he had acquired for such occasions which Bruno hadn't quite given up searching for.

"Hello Yusei," Aki greeted him casually. Fortune fell from his chair. The lady tended to make him glitch. She helped him up. Staring at the motivational poster in front of him, he tried to set her straight again.

"I'm Fortune, is there any information you need miss Aki?" He said in a tone that he hoped would make his programming apparent. Miss Aki smiled.

"Upload, Fortune Cup's semi finals," She answered intently. Pretending to be busy with some papers on his desk, he refused.

"I'd rather not," Fortune insisted. She'd tricked him last time. He knew better now.

"You asked," She argued. Fortune fought the urge to comply. The lady would confuse him again, and Bruno would make him sit through another check up.

" I'm required to say that to all visitors. You're not special," he countered. Aki's eyes filled with tears, and she backed away.

"I see. He would never say that to me," she claimed, about to walk out. Unwilling to let her go in her current state, Fortune grabbed her shoulder, and she attempted to undo his hold only to come to grips with his steely fingers. He reached the conclusion that he could hold her infinitely, but that he was no closer from undoing the damage he did. He sighed and gave up. What did it matter what happened to him? Bruno could undo the side effects. He did last time.

"Uploading, Fortune Cup semi finals," He stated, and Aki latched onto him like a tapeworm. Most treated him like a museum piece and avoided touching him. The sensations she brought forth muddled his thoughts. Her actions strategic and calculated, she did everything in a series of steps. Fortune braced himself for the next part.

"Fortune, save file to your memory," Aki ordered, and immediately, his head swam with images of whips, cuts, and a much more vicious Aki. As he processed the information, his programming wanted to group the new file with his personal experiences. He tried redirecting it to short term memory.

"Yusei," She called him as she had persistently done for the last few days. This triggered the reaction she hoped for.

"Yes, Aki," he replied although he couldn't seem to remember anything else. Aki stroked his hair, and her actions didn't really fit with the lashings she had given him before.

"Are you all right?" he questioned her. Her expression wasn't one of a raging witch, but considering the last words he heard come out of her mouth were help me, he wanted to make sure. She nodded, and he noted that she wasn't even wearing the same clothes.

"How long was I out?" he asked which caused Aki to hold him tightly. This machine held the key to resurrecting the man she'd lost prematurely. Currently, every time she inserted Yusei's memories into this conduit. The results were flawless. He squirmed, not expecting such an open display of affection.

"Six months," she stated. He rose, completely out of sorts. She must have injured him and put him out of commission for a while. Maybe amnesia too, he could only remember that one duel and something about signers and the Arcadia movement that made no sense.

"I don't remember anything. Aki what happened?" Yusei asked, opting to take her word for it. Her temperament seemed to have improved at least.

"You will soon," Aki promised.

"Fortune, upload my second duel with Yusei," She directed, and Fortune snapped out of his contrived delusion. He realized that she had full control of the situation as he had indeed begun uploading that particular file.

"Aki, stop, I will never be Yusei," Fortune told the lady. Miss Aki didn't like that response. The way she shifted to a more feline countenance and maneuvered him to the floor attested to that.

"Save to memory and every other file under the category Yusei Fudo," She prompted forcing Fortune to overwhelm his system with memories. He'd made a mistake. Bruno couldn't possibly erase all of it now, not completely.

"Good, Yusei, come with me" Aki cooed as he awoke.

"I need to unlock the last planetary gear," Yusei insisted reiterating his last mission. She couldn't help but cradle him in her arms. He looked up and his eyes were unfocused, and she could see a few of Fortune's circuits like if she'd switched him to sleep mode.

"Bruno took care of that," She assured him, navigating the unfocused plethora of wires and code out of the building.

"Oh okay," He replied, and she was sure that she could get him to agree and say all sorts of things in his current state but that wasn't her objective. The doorway was in sight when Bruno ran to the lobby in a panic.

"Fortune, Momentum's exhibiting random spikes of energy. The last one nearly took out all the people on the third floor," Bruno cried, causing her captive's eyes to regain their lost awareness. Glaring at Aki, he pushed her away and walked into Momentum's central room. The sparks ceased as Fortune returned to his little information desk and straightened his name plate. Bruno scratched his head. Fortune had lost control.

"I think another check up is in order," Bruno decided, and Fortune slammed his head on the desk. Bruno patted his back sympathetically.

"Tell you what, we'll wait till tomorrow provided that nothing else goes wrong with Momentum," Bruno said, placating his creation. He wasn't that old and had already taken quite a few insults from Bruno's peers.

"Fine," Fortune stated, turning his back on his creator. Wanting to avoid another volatile reacion, he opted to give Fortune some space. Bruno frowned when he saw Aki. She couldn't have. He decided and moved out of the way when she didn't budge. Aki approached Fortune who held his head, experiencing the closest thing to a headache he could manage.

"Go away," Fortune said, tired of always being strung along.

"Fortune please, won't you pretend for me? I'm lonely," She begged. He scoffed, but at least, she had freedom. The minute he left the premises, he shut down completely.

"Do you honestly have anything better to do? " She asked. Fortune had endless time on his hands, and naturally, he tended to fill that time doing useful if tedious things: sorting through each particle for potential threats, supervising workers, and providing assistance to Bruno. Somehow, he managed to still spend hours at his little help desk, bored.

"Not right now, no, but Bruno will," Fortune admitted before starting to object. Barely a week old, Fortune wasn't left on his own much. Constant check ups, general observation, testing for logic errors, Bruno smothered Momentum's guardian.

"Don't tell him," She commanded as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"He'll get mad," Fortune said with a sense of impending doom. The man would notice if his memory bank had Yusei's memories. Bruno would worry and when he worried, Fortune was reduced to staying in Momentum's central room where people rarely ventured.

" He won't find out. Besides, you like me," Aki said inching closer. Two contradicting responses represented themselves. He went with the one that he was familiar with.

"Miss Aki, under section eighty seven robots aren't allowed to sexually harras . . . " Fortune said, reciting the words directly from the manual. She kissed him, and he reacted to her touch similarly. The millions of files shoved into his brain told him to because Fortune has no other choice but to fulfill the purpose given to him.


	2. Retrograde

Retrograde

Bruno sat alone in the normally bustling break room. He had taken the liberty of giving the third floor the day off. Many people from the other sectors chose to use their sick days as well. He expected as much, and appreciated the space. While he worked with Fortune, the fewer people in the building the better. Removing anything from him required a certain amount of delicacy. The complexity of his form emulated the human body. Take one part out and it might cause his whole system to fail, and should Bruno have to deal with a neural problem again, he might be forced to simply shut him down and reboot, rather than picking apart what should not be there.

Considering the sorts of memories Fortune kept getting a hold of. Bruno could not deny that it caused a certain ache. Loss, as Z-one had explained it, never went away. At times, Bruno contemplated simply removing the feeling. To do so, required removing the good and Bruno could not bring himself to forget. He read the newspaper, but little in it interested him, except a brief excerpt about Momentum's recent energy surge by a Miss Carly Nasaiga. The door opened, and he gave a brief nod to whoever bothered to show. He moved onto the crossword, and decided to keep it challenging by disconnecting from the wi fi. The man handed him a cup of earl grey. He drank it gladly, until he remembered that only one man had ever bothered asking him what he liked to drink. He put the paper down and looked up.

"Yusei?" he asked with a certain hesitation. Bruno did not want Fortune associating himself with Yusei. He already held a certain amount of dismay that his creation remembered the name from the last time he cleaned Fortune's memory files. However, if he had momentarily become Yusei . . . the idea caused the millions of falsified dendrites to explode with activity. His body's engine pumped harder in case he needed to take immediate flight. How much did he remember?

"Yes Bruno?" he said, taking his share of the paper. Bruno found it hard to speak, too many choices.

"Was I wrong to assume I work here now? I know I have been out a while, "Yusei said. Bruno let out a sigh. He must only have the public files. It would be so easy to lie and have things the way they were. Z-one had designed Bruno's face to look trustworthy, even the authentic Yusei had never suspected him. And yet, Bruno could not ignore his human design. Humans moved forward.

"No, in fact, this is all based on your designs. You were quite brilliant Yusei," Bruno said as he stood. He could not tell how long ago Fortune had acquired Yusei's personality. To avoid damage to the psyche, he needed to push him out of the delusion gently.

"Were?" he asked. Yusei tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows. Bruno put an arm on Yusei's shoulder. He looked up at him. At that angle, Bruno could see hints of the circuitry underneath. It made the next part easier.

"Fortune, let the dead be," Bruno said.

"What are you talking about?"Yusei said, filling out the next word in the crossword, reincarnation. Bruno hated irony.

"Fortune, begin reboot," he said. His eyes became unfocused, before regaining clarity. Fortune blinked before suddenly holding his head in his hands. Fortune still remembered.

Bruno patted Fortune's back. He knew it was useless and that he should be checking his main frame for errors but some sentimentality had slipped through. He understood the pain of confused identity, and it was not something Bruno had programmed him to deal with. Fortune stared up at him. He lifted his arms awkwardly as his mind processed something. Finally, Fortune hugged him. The lights flickered, leading Bruno to a conclusion he had hoped never to make. He tested his theory. He returned the hug. The light bulb blew out.

"Fortune," he started to say.

"I am sorry," Fortune said. Bruno could hear the reactor whirling.

"Wipe disk and shut down," he said. Fortune let him go, tears falling. For once, Bruno questioned why he had bothered to make that adjustment. It only hurt him to see those tears.

He expected the process to be quick and painless. What followed took too long and made Bruno uncomfortable, his creation was losing awareness in stages. First, the body's ability to balance left, and Fortune fell to his knees.

"I do not want to die," Fortune said. Bruno could hear the beginnings of a fissure forming below. The warning system kicked in, and the steady beeping grew rapid. The stress Fortune felt directly correlated with Momentum's current energy spikes as he suspected. The peculiar shine left his eyes, his sight had gone. He immediately grabbed Fortune's hand. He could hear the beeping slowing a little.

"I do not want to die, "Fortune said again in a much softer tone. Bruno tried the hug again. The action was still quite foreign to him and had usually been reserved for victories in the WRGP and even then, he'd never risked hugging Jack.

Fortune accepted the sudden touch. Another light bulb exploded, but the beeping stopped, and he heard no more ominous rumbling below.

"Don't let me die," he said. Bruno knew he should let the process finish. By now, Fortune had started systematically eliminating his memories so he could effectively shutdown. When he awoke, he would have a clean start. To do so, would strip him of some humanity, but he never meant for him to be human. When a program had a fatal error, he reinstalled it. This would be no different.

"Please," he begged. The pain would stop when he shut down.

"When you wake up, you will be good as new," he insisted. Fortune's eyes grew red. The speakers went off.

"Warning system hacked, " the woman on the monitor said with a slight dry wheeze.

"Bruno, why are you doing this? I thought we were friends," Yusei said, attempting to stand without much success. Their battle had been fantastical, and now, his friend could barely move.

"But I need to protect everyone else, you are in the way," Bruno said. Yusei scowled, a very stark contrast to his previous understanding smile. Bruno flinched. He did not set him down for fear that he would attempt to stand again, and accidentally break a vital piece of his geometry.

"Did it ever occur to you to ask for my help? Or did you really want to kill me?" Yusei said in a low voice. Bruno lost his focus in the dim room, stuck with an old ghost that had come to haunt him.

"I," he said, before regaining his sense. Yusei was dead. Why should he answer any of it? Fortune did not need to know any of it, and Yusei was not really there.

"Fortune finish wiping disk and continue shut down," Bruno said. Yusei shut his eyes as the last thing he remembered returned.

"Bruno!" he yelled out in anguish. Instinctively, he held him tighter. Bruno would have crushed his rib cage, had he not been made of metal the same as him. Yusei quieted, likely the process was close to finished. The door opened. He regretted not giving everyone the day off. He must look strange holding Yusei in the dark. The scene almost looked criminal. Aki peeked inside, staring at the two.

"It's a ghost town out there," Aki said.

"No one wanted to be here after yesterday's accident," Bruno explained. Aki surveyed the room.

"I can see why," Aki said. Yusei's fingers twitched, but Bruno assumed that it was a remnant of the electrical battery being released.

Aki walked in and kneeled down next to Yusei. Bruno heard Yusei whisper, Aki. Bruno checked the woman's expression, no signs of caring at all. With an eerie calm, she stroked his hair. Bruno wondered at the gesture and considered asking her to wait outside while he restarted Fortune. He imagined that this was the closest she'd ever come to seeing his dead body.

"Fortune, cancel shut down," Aki said. His eyes regained their shine, and Fortune gingerly removed himself from Bruno's grip. Speechless, he scrambled to understand how Aki had managed to override his command. He had only programmed Fortune to give tours and information to others. By all rights, Aki should not have this level of control of him. Yusei crawled over to Aki and gave her a kiss. The lights turned on again and systematically exploded.

"Fortune stop," Bruno begged. One of the last researchers passed their door as she ran out the building, phone in hand. Security would be here soon.

"Calm down. We can't have the lights off all the time," Aki said. Fortune blushed. The poor coffee maker suffered.

"Aki," he said. She noted the shift instantly. Aki felt much less inclined to be under him. Her gaze hardened and her lips formed a prudish semi circle. Fortune's arms shook, despite being perfectly capable of keeping himself elevated.

"Get off,"Aki said. He withdrew immediately.

"Yes Miss Aki," he said promptly. He wrung his hands behind his back briefly. She shook his hair.

"Why don't you clean up this mess? I think Bruno wants to speak to me alone," Aki said. With unbridled enthusiasm, Fortune retrieved a broom and dust pan from the nearby janitor's closet.

Aki walked out the door. Bruno followed, ready to intervene. The woman had opened a very serious health hazard to the public. That and the last thing he wanted Aki to be known for were death kisses. Only recently had the Black Rose Witch rumors ceased. It would not take much for the hysteria to begin anew. Besides, he had received a taste of the Black' Rose witch's cruelty during their last official showdown, and he did not want to repeat the incident. He would need to be careful if he wished not to be maimed this time. She did not take him far, stopping in the lobby.

A somber sort of melancholy befell her. She leaned against the receptionist desk. Her hair, always a deep wild fuchsia, hung carelessly flat. He saw a subtle hint of purple under eyes. The way Yusei would have when he neglected to sleep. By the look of it, she had been having trouble sleeping for at least a week. The matching bright outfits she used to wear were now replaced with a dull grey ensemble. Bruno waited for her to say something, but she had the same idea. Only Silence. He could hear Fortune sweeping down the hall and it strengthened his resolve.

"Aki, I do not know what you are thinking right now, but this won't change anything,"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and she quickly transformed into the lithe predator that she'd shown herself to be in the Arc Cradle. Mere centimeters from his face, she hissed, words filled with long overdue poison. And, Bruno knew he deserved every word.

"I have a more valid question for you. Did you ever think of how what you did would change everything?"

Bruno instinctively swallowed his saliva. Dangerous, she was dangerous, plain and simple. He resisted the urge to push her, refusing to get his way through force. It wasn't what Z-one had programmed him to do.

"That depends, do you mean Fortune or?" Bruno said, before she abruptly turned away. Her pink hair smacked his face. He put a hand over his cheek, his pain receptors kicking in. It stung.

He analyzed her heart beat, strong and rapid. A lot of adrenaline was coursing through her body too. She took a deep exasperated breath and yanked the pen from the lobby desk. The chain snapped off easily. Her anger ran deep.

"Both, "she said, not turning to face him. She let the pen drop and roll to the adjacent wall. Much like a true rose, she remained perfectly still with only slight movements indicating her breath.

"There wasn't another way," That he knew of. He rarely admitted that to himself. She shook her head. The wild fuchsia strands swayed back and forth violently, and he could help but stare in fascination.

"You killed him and then, put a copy on display," she said. He opened his mouth to protest. Fortune was much more than that.

"And, what's worse, I have to find out about it when I finally come see you," she said. His eyes widened. She would have forgiven him. In that instant, the roaring crows and elaborate D-wheels flashed before his eyes. He missed the way things used to be. The way they would smile as if he belonged. The long nights working together as one. He had a purposed then. But now . . . the image shattered, leaving Yusei's angry scowl in its wake. He would never forgive him. No, not just him, none of them would ever forgive him. For Fortune, he had given up his chance to reconcile with any of them.

"I do not remember you stopping by," he said. She spit on the floor.

"I didn't stay long," she said. He did not know how to fix the situation. Sure, he had felt the discomfort that came with confronting Yusei again, but certainly, Fortune differed. Bruno discerned the two easily. The boy's personality, unfortunately, happened to be much more submissive, especially toward Aki and at the same time, more open than Yusei ever could be. He doubted he could bring himself to shut Fortune down again, albeit temporarily, and the longer he waited the more likely Fortune would become resistant to the idea.

"You know what he asked me the first time he saw me?"she said, turning so her tears were evident. He knew she would tell him anyway. Human beings always shared things, more than they should sometimes.

"Who are you?" she said.

He could sympathize, but she had taken things too far. He must keep authority here, lest the world turn to peril again. This woman had been raised on excess power and arguably excess of wealth. She would not know when to stop.

"Aki, please listen, if you keep going on like this, you'll cause a second zero reverse," he said. No repentant Aki showed. He rather missed the shy girl who would dreamily whisper Yusei's name and feign any recollection on the matter later.

He had made her desperate. Ruined some delicate peace, Yusei had installed years before. Like an old obscure car, he had lost the model number. If he went through his memory bank carefully, with the exception of a few shared moments with Crow, Aki had favored Yusei above all else. He was playing a very dangerous game, reintroducing any piece of that lost bliss to her. Her softer side had wilted recently, and the thorny underbrush knew no other peace before or since.

"Would that be my fault or your shoddy programming skills,"she snapped.

"Hey, he is an excellent program. You're the bug in this situation," he said. A prideful part of him had let that slip. He hoped she would not get the full extent of the insult. Except, Yusei tended to explain everything and was known to talk Aki's ear off. So, of course, she caught the insult.

"Did you just refer to me as a problem in the system? I'm giving you one chance to correct yourself," she hissed. He backed away but kept eye contact with her as one would a tiger.

"In this case, yes," he said. Sure, She had suffered disappointment, but his intentions were noble. He would not lie as he had survived for a reason. With Yusei gone, he had inherited the responsibility for this planet or at least this sector. His job was not to spare one girl some heartache.

" Can't you see it? He's not really gone. You must have gotten a taste of it, at least," she said. He picked the pen off the floor and wiped the spit away in a napkin if only so Fortune would not have to.

"I saw an imprint of him yes, but it wasn't Yusei, " he said. He could tell they were echoes, mostly, but a few more minutes of amiable chatterg, and he would have been confessing all his sins to the copy.

"He acts exactly the same," she said.

He could not deny it, but he did not have to win the argument. Truly, if he reached into the cold logic of his circuitry, he concluded she was the root of the problem.

"If you insist on continuing your irrational behavior, I will have to ban you from the building," he said, dead serious. However, Bruno did not want to be cruel. He would give her a choice for his role in her ruin. Aki's life had gone into a standstill. He had heard rumors that she turned down a chance to study in Germany recently. He could only assume Fortune had been a deciding factor in her choice to stay in Neo Domino.

"Bruno," she said in an indignant tone that started sweet and ended bitterly.

"I will let you endanger everyone," he said. She shook her head. The wide teary eyes reminded him of his beloved Siamese. A thought not altogether appropriate when dealing with a grief stricken woman.

"I can fix the problem, "she said. Impossible, his instructions were absolute. If she had not gotten involved, he would be functioning normally instead of sweeping up light bulbs.

"No, you cannot," he said. She grabbed part of his shirt and showed off those feline eyes of hers, especially designed for getting favors. Everything to him sounded like pitiful mews, all of which surmounted to the same thing he had heard before. Please bring Yusei back. He could not, not even Z-one had managed to.

"You can fix it," she said.

"I will not," Bruno said. He would never reduce Fortune to that level of humiliation. He had seen how quickly Aki tossed him aside when he was no longer who she wanted.

"Why?" Aki said. He thought of the other hellish robotic incarnations which Z-one had "saved" who now lay buried and mostly forgotten. He wasn't much better, but he would not create an exact copy. Although the fact he had chosen ultimately to be Bruno, might prove it was impossible to copy a human being exactly.

"I will not go as far as Z-one did," Bruno said. The security officers came in, inspecting the premises. He signaled to one of the bosses as he now had authority to do. He wasn't exactly comfortable with that authority yet, but this was important. Had their not been pictures of him everywhere in the city, the police officer probably would have ignored him.

"Oh good, you are here. Escort this lady off the premises, and no I will not be pressing charges this time," he said. She did not resist, and Ushio apologized profusely on their way out. Bruno went ahead and explained to the other police that the main reactor had inexplicably recovered. Mildly annoyed, the female turned around and ordered the unit off the premises so his staff could work, only two interns remained, Rua and Ruka, bless them. A miracle that their parents had let them stay at all.

"Bye, miss Aki," Fortune said with a wave. She reacted by giving him a slight smile as one would to a merchant, polite but unfeeling. He ate it up. Bruno grabbed his arm. Fortune understood and followed.

"It's time for your checkup Fortune," he said. Fortune groaned but did not resist. After the recent disastrous attempt to shut him down, he might better behave if nothing else. Bruno would tell him the bad news later. Another volatile reaction would not do, he second guessed his decision to have the two connected. It seemed to cause more problems than it was worth to have Fortune around, but he could fix it as Aki said. Perhaps not to her liking but the first step would be to eliminate Yusei's influence on him somehow, because Fortune did deserve a piece of humanity.

**As a favor, to a loyal reviewer in another fic, I went ahead and updated this. Since I did, Accident prone will likely get one next week to be fair, and I'll proceeded to finish the last two chapters of the childhood arc in Dreams conquers Vengeance.**


	3. Memory

Memory

The metal table was cold. Fortune could never die of hypothermia or anything, but it still bothered him. He lay down anyway because Bruno insisted. He had been very bad. He listened to the lady. The building almost exploded. Bruno nearly did away with him. He had to prove he wasn't broken. Bruno opened up the skin flap hidden away by the thick hair. Fortune flinched as the thin layer quickly slipped off, the sensation felt odd like peeling away the plastic on a lolly pop. Bruno moved the wiring aside so he could insert the USB cable. The electric pulses that followed made Fortune laugh.

"Sorry," Bruno said, not laughing with him like he normally would. He hadn't said anything else since the incident. The silence disturbed him. Had he suffered some sort of trauma? He didn't remember anything. For whatever reason, Jack and Crow did not seem fond of him. He didn't see why. Yusei found him rather fascinating. Bruno pressed a few buttons on the central panel. He had grown paler, and the frown he wore became much more defined.

"My upload triggered something. I will try deleting it, piece by piece, like last time, '" Bruno said.

Yusei didn't understand. He wondered if he was suffering from some strange dream from his all nighter the day before. Nothing around him struck him as familiar. The room had abnormally white decor, a hospital, maybe. Yusei tried to turn around and felt the cable along his back grow tighter. A sharp pain followed. He traced it to the back of his head. That couldn't be right. A small bit of panic bubbled to the surface. What had happened to him?

"Fortune, sleep mode," Bruno told him, leaving his arm raised as if he were afraid he would attack. Who was Fortune?

A sudden blast of electric sparks fried his body. He cried out. The vivid burning sensation seemed especially potent in his head. Yusei swore he saw smoke come out from there. The burly security guard had cheated him. He should demand the duel stop. Takasu clearly did not mean to bring any danger on himself. However, as long as he had these people's cards, he had their hope. Wait. Where were the cards?

"Fortune are you all right? I can't access your files. You have to tell me," Bruno said, shaking him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Maybe I deleted too much," Bruno muttered. Yusei let himself be helped. Despite the damage he took, he managed to stand with minimal effort as if the shock had barely phased him. He truly thought the pain genuine before. The lack of any now puzzled him. Nothing felt tender, if anything, the underlying muscle felt hard, too hard.

"It's Bruno," the man told him. Although soft spoken and accommodating, his appearance reminded him of Aoyama. He wondered what the outcome of the duel was. Had he lost and doomed Aoyama? The director would have granted him medical attention even if he did as he had taken a keen interest in him since his duel with Jack.

"Excuse me, could you tell me if I lost?" Yusei asked. Bruno seemed troubled as he aptly checked his laptop. The man wouldn't look him in the eye, but many people in the city avoid contact with a marked man.

"Only once," Bruno said. So, he had lost and the director had stuck him here afterwards.

"Could you take me to the director?" he asked since he would be more likely to be granted a favor once he did whatever the director thought he could do. Then, he could make it up to Aoyama.

"You are here for a check up. You can leave once you're done," Bruno said and gestured to the table. Yusei sat down. Bruno walked over to the computer. He typed something in. Yusei felt a peculiar sensation as if he'd taken some night cold medicine. He yawned.

"Goodnight Yusei," Bruno said and disconnected the cable.

"I don't think I told you my name, " Yusei said. The man didn't answer.

Fortune awoke and proceeded to check his files. Nothing came up when he searched Yusei Fudo. Bruno was waiting for him to become fully operational. He frowned. Fortune did not want to rise.

"How do you feel?" Bruno asked. Fortune tried his best to come up with an answer. He still laid in a dreamy sort of state, not fully conscious.

"Awake," he decided. Bruno nodded and scribbled something down.

"Unfortunately, I could not remove the files. They've become deeply embedded in your subconscious," Bruno told him. Fortune stared at the ceiling tile above. It had two hundred and fifty dots.

"So, there is still something wrong with me," he said. Bruno put a hand on his shoulder. Fortune glanced up at him. The intensity of the stare soon made him look away.

"No, I've put a mental block in your system so you are unable to access those files. Since they are still there, Aki will not be able to re-upload them at will," Bruno informed him, disposition much improved. It pleased him, but something much more alluring caught his attention.

"Miss Aki," Fortune murmured, seeking to drift again. His system flooded with images of her.

"I still don't know why she has such control over you. There is nothing in your programming to suggest a logic error."

Fortune heard him as an overlying echo softly hitting the inside of his skull. He didn't really know why, but something about Aki struck him as lovely. She didn't need to force him to do anything. He wanted to make her happy. He was supposed to make her happy because . . . She's lonely. He's bored. He's gone.

"Fortune, I didn't tell you to go into sleep mode. Wake up," Bruno said. Fortune opened his eyes. He hadn't left the table, but he could have sworn Aki was with him. She had been there a few minutes ago.

"Hmm, what?" Fortune said.

"Until, I can find a more permanent solution you will be working in momentum's central room, " Bruno said, a tired look to his eyes that he recognized but couldn't place. More importantly, Bruno punished him. Fortune hated the isolated core. How could he say he was fine and still punish him? None of momentum's malfunctions had been voluntary, none of it. Fortune closed his eyes again. He wanted Aki back. Bruno shook him.

"Go there now, or we can go ahead and check your motor functions while you're here," Bruno said. Fortune retreated quickly after that. That process was much more invasive and time consuming than the neurological exam.

"Your coat," Bruno held it up. He put it on. It reminded him of his father's coat. Fortune shook his head.

"You will fix it, right?" Fortune said. Bruno nodded. His creator already had an imprint of his mind on the computer. He could see unfamiliar faces on the screen, ones Yusei probably knew. He enlarged one of the pictures for some reason. It's Carly, one of the reports that was chasing him for an interview. He shouldn't have left her alone with the cops, but she did meet Jack afterwards. He slammed his forehead on the wall on his way out. The thought escaped him.

"Fortune, are you sure you don't want me to check your motor functions?" Bruno asked, taking the tool kit out. Fortune shook his head and kept going. Once he was in the hallway, he buried his face into the lab coat. He didn't want anyone to see his face. They generally walked a little faster when they did. He might as well be radioactive.

Soon, he reached the big empty husk. The thin railways weren't adequate for regular human traffic. It didn't take much to fall off of them. The bulbous center held the rainbow light that glittered, forever turning. A kid had a seizure because of it once. They had them fill out forms before they entered now.

He leaned on the metal rim and started to analyze the particles. Maybe he could figure out what went wrong before. A long stretch of quiet followed, the swirling of particles drowned out everything else. The task did not take much of his processing power. However, there wasn't much else to focus on, the memory wipe had succeeded in taking some of his own memories, not Yusei's. All his contact with Aki and Bruno remained in tact, but he couldn't remember what had upset him the day Aki had him download all of Yusei's memories for instance. Fortune didn't mind. The rest wasn't overly important. The people he showed around wouldn't come twice, and none of the other people that worked here considered him worth talking to. He was equipment to them.

"Rua, Bruno told us not to come in here," Ruka complained.

Fortune blinked. Kids?But, Bruno had cancelled the tours for a while. He turned around and saw two green haired twins in lab coats. They looked to young to be here, probably snuck in. He walked over to them while they bickered. They didn't notice him yet.

"Aw, come on, you heard what Jack said. Aren't you curious?" Rua asked. Ruka's mouth hung open, and she closed it again at his comment. She looked down at her shoes. Fortune could see a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Maybe a little," she admitted. Rua grinned and pulled her forward.

" He should be-" he started to say before bumping into Fortune. They looked at him as if he were the most amazing thing in the world. He backed away impulsively. He wasn't comfortable with that amount of favorable scrutiny.

"Wow," they said simultaneously. Fortune retreated to the circular railway around momentum's center. They didn't follow him.

"Fortune?" Ruka said. He nodded. Nothing happened for a few minutes.

"It's okay we're not going to hurt you, "Rua said. He covered his mouth with his hand and whispered to his sister.

"You think maybe he thinks more like a toddler?" he asked. This caused Fortune to blush. He had been acting like a toddler. It's not like he hadn't seen children before, albeit these were close to reaching adolescence. He was only a head taller than them.

"Hello, you shouldn't be in here," he said. They frowned.

"But Yus' Fortune," Rua corrected himself hastily. They knew him, no Yusei. It wasn't something he could check anymore. He should handle the matter delicately. They obviously had certain expectations of him that he couldn't meet.

"We wanted to see you," Ruka finished. Not really, no one ever wanted to see him, per say.

"Aww, Ruka you made him sad," Rua chided her. She crossed her arms.

"You slipped up first," Ruka reminded him.

"It's okay, but you shouldn't impersonate personnel," he said. They stopped bickering.

"But we do work here, sort of. Not for money or anything, Bruno lets us hang around," Rua explained.

"He said he'd hire us when were older," Ruka added.

Why would Bruno let these particular children stay and force others to leave? They must be special, or maybe, they were liars. He could check the main server files to be certain, but this particular place wasn't safe for them anyway.

"If you say so, but you still can't be here," Fortune told them.

The two huddled together and whispered to each other. He waited. Rua stepped forward, and cleared his throat.

"We'll leave on one condition," Rua said.

"What?" he asked. From past experience, children tended to come up with unreasonable terms. Rua grinned.

"You play hide and seek with us," Rua said. He didn't know that term, but he could somewhat guess what he was talking about.

"How do you play exactly?" Fortune asked. He didn't want to get into trouble again.

"Most of us hide, and one of us looks, "Ruka said.

"Then, the one that's found gets to try and find us" Rua interjected.

Fortune hesitated. He would need to leave momentum's core. Bruno wouldn't like that.

"I can't," Fortune said. They frowned. They must not have expected him to say no.

"Why?" Ruka asked.

He didn't look at either of them. He pushed his two index fingers together. It sounded silly.

"Come one spit it out," Rua said.

"Bruno won't let me," he admitted.

Rua laughed. Ruka scowled at her brother.

"Told you; he is just a toddler. Let's go. We're wasting our time," Rua said, turning around. Ruka followed reluctantly.

"The wasn't very nice," she whispered.

"Wait," Fortune said. Rua turned around.

"Yeah?" he said.

"I'll play with you," Fortune said.

"All right, we'll start. You find us," Rua said. They each took one of his arms and pulled him out of the room.

The twins laughed uncontrollably as he counted. They hushed when he reached ten. He already knew where they were, but he feigned confusion to humor them. Of all the places to hide, Rua decided to hide behind the curtains, and Ruka hid under the desk in the lobby. He pretended to check the vents, and the janitor's closet nearby. Then, he returned to the lobby and pulled the curtain.

"You found me," Rua said, his bubbly attitude shining through. Ruka crawled out from under the desk.

"Behind the curtains, Rua?" she said with a certain amount of scorn.

"Oh and hiding under the desk was real original," Rua countered. She ignored him and dusted off her skirt. Then, Ruka grabbed Fortune's hand. Oh but he really wasn't-

"Come on let's hide," Ruka said.

He let himself be pulled. The people in the hallway looked at them strangely. Did he used to do this too?

"One, two," he could hear Rua count.

"Okay, you hide in that room," she said, pointed to the room across from them, before running into the adjacent room.

"But I thought I was supposed to pick where I," he said, torn between following Ruka and going where he was told.

"Ten," Rua finished.

Panicking, Fortune shut the door. After surveying the room, it became extremely obvious he was too big to fit anywhere. Giving the cabinets a second look, he decided that he should be able to fit in there. While he attempted to fit without breaking it, the door opened. Fortune sighed, too slow. The game was harder than he thought.

"Fortune, what are you doing?" Bruno said. Fortune already had his foot lodged inside the cabinet. He really couldn't come up with a logical lie for this one.

"Playing hide and seek," he refrained from adding nothing exploded. Bruno did not look angry only bewildered.

"With who?" Bruno asked.

"You didn't hide," Rua whined. He noticed Bruno there with his hands on his hips.

"Oops," he said, laughing uneasily.

"Okay kids, playtime is over," Bruno told them. Ruka didn't come out.

"I know you're here too," Bruno yelled. When nothing happened, Fortune decided to correct him. It looked like they weren't going to be able to finish the game so it shouldn't matter.

"She's in the other room," Fortune said. Ruka returned and pouted.

"Tattletale," she told him. He really needed to re-download the dictionary.

"What does that mean?" Fortune asked.

"You told them where I was, and that wasn't for you to say" Ruka said.

"Oh," Fortune said. It was a matter of honor. He forgot sometimes that kids were entirely different creatures than adults.

"Okay, kids out, have Sherry buy you a coke or something," Bruno said. They brightened. Again their universe was full of mystery and wonder. It made him a little peeved. Apparently, they're over how awesome he was.

"Sherry's here?" they shouted. He tried to picture who they were talking about. The best he could do was picture a bowl of cherries. He lacked imagination.

"I mean the new receptionists. Sorry to get your hopes up," Bruno apologized. They whined.

"We can see him later right?" Ruka asked. Bruno hesitated. He bent down and whispered to the two of them. He had to know that Fortune could hear him.

"You do know he's not," Bruno said. Rua interrupted him.

"Bruno, it's a freaking Yusei robot. We love him anyway," Rua said.

"You had him all by himself," Ruka complained on his behalf. He found the gesture rather sweet. He knew that he wasn't what they really wanted though.

"It's not safe right now. He's been unstable recently," Bruno said. His eyes were on him though and apologetic. He was broken, but Bruno would not admit that.

The kids left, and Bruno brought him back to momentum central room. He doesn't say anything because everything has already been said. Fortune leaned forward on the metal rim.

He stared at the particles below. This time his mind was on other things, on Bruno, the twins, Aki, and who he used to be. He will always represent something more than what he really was. It's why he can't forget, and it's why he needed to find a way to remember.


End file.
